Ahi in August

The day I was leaving for Mexico, I get a call from my friend Dean Imanaka. He's was 3-4 hours away with a big smile on his face having caught his fish of the year, a 200 lb. Ahi and needs a fish print done today. I first begun my diving alot with Dean back in the days and till this day he looks the same and even has the same waist line from intermediate school. Yes, his PE shorts still fit! But on this occasion he needed his help from his crew and with the right "Gaji Lures" in hand it was a sure thing. Allan Sato (left) creator of the Gaji Lure brought his pink/blue skirted lure and it was game on! My Dad and Mom headed over and the gyotaku print came out awesome!

Mexican Shootout 2009

Just in from the Mexican Shootout 2009! Everyday we awoke to this type of beautiful sunrises off the coast of La Ventana's finest resort, Palapas Ventana. Our hosts Tim, Himena, and Karon Hatler rolled out the "Red Sea" carpet over looking their restaurant and we spent 5 days of diving in 80 degree water. With no sign of swine flu (not even 1 case) in La Ventana we were ready to dive!

Our boat captains were up early at the crack of dawn with boats in the water ready to go! 2 divers per boat provided ample space for all our gear. They were so fired up, that they always waiting for us down at the beach while we were on "hawaiian time" everyday.

Some of our highlights were spearing these large broomtail grouper that were down deep around 75-80 feet but all the divers managed to land a few with lots of teamwork. Team "Nigeria" Keaka Ching and Chris Paglinawan took top honors and Captain Camaleon was the winning Captain. Another great year with a variety of fish landed including Wahoo, Roosterfish, Snappers, Groupers, and even a shot on a Marlin. Gracias to Palapas Ventana and all our sponsors for making it a successful event. Can't wait for next year!

Surviving the Na Pali Coast

We went over to Kauai's Napali Coast to do some filming this weekend and we had a blast! "Surviving" the elements with nothing but the bare minimum was our plan and with dive gear and kayaks in hand we were ready for action. Jared Furusho was excited as the rest of us packing his fins and hoping for the best conditions.

This was my first trip to the Na Pali Coast and definitely not the last. Breathtaking mountains and deep underwater caves with spectacular views.

We slept on the beach under the stars and almost found overselves to be "road kill" at 2 am. more to come on this later.

Kevin, Tom, Brandon, Jon (Uku), Jared, Allan were the survivors here. What a great weekend in Kauai with non-stop action in and out of the water!